AT least six people were feared dead last night, while
several others sustained gunshot injuries after soldiers and police in Harare
used brute force to suppress MDC Alliance activists protesting against alleged
electoral theft of their vote by Zanu PF and the Zimbabwe Electoral Commission
(Zec).
The city centre resembled a war zone, as soldiers drove in
their armoured vehicles and indiscriminately fired live ammunition at anyone
they found in the central business district, with several passersby caught in
the cross fire.
While police confirmed that three people died, witnesses
claimed at least six people were shot dead.
“We express our condolences to the bereaved. We are
currently investigating circumstances surrounding the deaths,” national police
spokesperson Senior Assistant Commissioner Charity Charamba said.
Protesters had gathered in the morning at Richard Morgan
Tsvangirai House in Harare’s CBD in what they described as “protecting their
vote”. They vowed not to leave the streets until Zec addressed
their issues.
However, police responded by bringing armoured trucks,
including water cannons and that parked outside the MDC-T party headquarters,
much to the disappointment of the protesters who challengingly started to march
towards the Zec headquarters, Zanu PF headquarters and Rainbow Towers Hotel,
where results were being announced.
Along the way, the protesters sang and danced, claiming
they were protecting MDC Alliance leader Nelson Chamisa’s alleged victory.
They queried the high votes that Zanu PF got in rural
areas. Trouble started after police blocked them from entering
Rainbow Towers Hotel, used by Zec as their base to announce the results.
The protesters then retreated and started throwing missiles
at the Zanu PF headquarters, damaging several vehicles in the parking area
before police fired gunshots and teargas canisters to disperse the crowd,
leading to fierce running battles.
In the process, the protestors barricaded some roads with boulders,
burning tyres and stoning some buildings as police, who apparently appeared
outnumbered, called for reinforcement from the military.
Military tanks rolled into the city centre, with
helicopters hovering over, leading to fatal clashes, as they sealed off the
MDC-T and MDC Alliance headquarters.
Charamba confirmed that the police decided to engage the
military allegedly due to the magnitude of the protests.
“The Commissioner-General of Police (Godwin Matanga) has
invoked the provisions of section 37 (1) of the Public Order and Security Act
chapter 11:17 and approached the minister of Home Affairs and Culture to
request for the assistance of the defence forces for the suppression of the
commotion and disturbances in Harare central business district,” Charamba said.
She singled out MDC-T youth leader Happymore Chidziva and
MDC Alliance principal Tendai Biti as having organised the protests.
“The ZDF, however, remain under the command and supervision
of the Commissioner-General of Police. This development has been necessitated
by the fact that the degree of disturbances of law and order have reached a
magnitude where our regular police officers, as well as our reserve members,
have been unable to cope with this situation. We are urging members of the public
to remain calm, refrain from violence and also respect the rule of law in the
country,” Charamba said.
“We are fully aware of the inciters, the perpetrators of
this violence, they will have themselves to blame when the law is applied,”
Charamba added.
But MDC-T chairman Morgen Komichi said the opposition was
not behind the protests.
“This is a spontaneous reaction of the people of Zimbabwe
to a flawed election that has just taken place,” he said.
“People seem so express that something has gone wrong, they
seem to feel that the outcome of elections being announced by Zec does not
resonate with the sentiments of the people on the ground. Figures that are
coming out are not the true picture that people are expressing.
“People are saying how can we vote for poverty that has
plagued us for 38 years? How can we vote for unemployment that is now in the
range of 96%? Instead of being brutal, callous by bringing the army in the
street, the government must engage the people.”
Zanu PF Harare provincial chairman Godwills Masimirembwa
claimed Zanu PF property, including vehicles and a bus, were damaged and party
employees injured.
“This situation in town, you must remember it was fomented
by none other than Nelson Chamisa because during his campaign trail he said if
he loses elections, he will make sure that this country is ungovernable. He
threatened to shut down Harare,” Masimirembwa said.
President Emmerson Mnangagwa also blamed the MDC Alliance
leadership for the disturbances.
“We hold the opposition MDC Alliance and its whole
leadership responsible for this disturbance of national peace, which was meant
to disrupt the electoral process. Equally, we hold the party and its leadership
responsible for any loss of life, injury or damage of property that arise from
these acts of political violence which they have aided and abetted,” Mnangagwa
said in an impromptu address to the nation last night.
Mnangagwa ordered the MDC Alliance leadership to remove its
violent supporters from the streets.
“In asking them to take this necessary step, government is
simply reminding them of their duties as responsible political players, and as
citizens.”
The Zimbabwe Human Rights Association (ZimRights) condemned
the deployment of armed soldiers.
“The soldiers have been firing live ammunition on fleeing
civilians in the crowded streets with some of the injured and dead being shot
in the back, including women,” ZimRights said.
The human rights body pleaded with Sadc and the African
Union to intervene.
The United States Embassy in Harare also condemned the
violence, calling on all political parties to respect peace.
“We urge leaders of all parties to call for calm from
members of their respective parties. We further urge the Defence Forces of Zimbabwe
to use restraint in dispersing protestors,” the embassy said in a statement
yesterday.
“Zimbabwe has an historic opportunity to move the country
towards a brighter future for all its citizens. Violence cannot be a part of
that process.”
The United Nations also issued a statement last night
calling on Zimbabwean political leaders to exercise restraint and reject all
forms of violence. Newsday
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